Porter Airlines

Our first flight experience with Porter Airlines from Toronto to Chicago was a disaster. We were scheduled to fly from Toronto to Chicago to be at wedding celebrations later that evening. 20 minutes past the scheduled departure, our flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues (there were 3 flights cancelled that day due to mechanical problems), and the only option provided to us by rude ground crew was to take the first flight out the next day. They refused to put us on a wait list for the remaining flights for the rest of the day. Porter are not equipped to handle the slightest deviation from normal operation of their daily schedule. Ground crew give you the impression that Porter is doing its customers a favour by operating an airline, rather than the other way around. We finally managed to get waitlisted for remaining flights that day, and did get on the very last flight that night, having spent 10 hours at the airport. If you have to be somewhere at a particular time, don’t fly with Porter - you don’t know how bad they are until you have a problem!

I used to have one of those jobs that required a lot of travel, so it's not like I don't have anything else to compare this to. I don't like flying so I tend to avoid flights with connections. Porter Airlines would not be my first choice, since most of their routes require a connection, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of service and efficiency at Porter. I have flown Porter twice now and must say this airline really makes an effort to make flying a pleasant rather than an experience to get past with fingers crossed. The flights left on time, the business center, free quality snacks and beverages really helped to make the travel experience enjoyable. It's more than I can ask for and even expect - Porter Airlines is an airline that's a real gem.

Planned a vacation to Montreal for the weekend. While sitting in Porter lounge we were first told plane would be 15 mins late, then about half an hour later there was an announcement that the flight cancelled due to not enough crew. Told to wait seated until given instructions to come to counter. Got email that we would be on the 9 pm flight, we had booked a car in Montreal airport.

Porter cancels flights for no reason, and emailed me at the last minute notifying that the flight is cancelled. Booked two different flights within 3 months and both have been cancelled. They give a 50.00 voucher for your next flight but can't use it because the flight may be cancelled again.

I have flown twice with Porter since December. I found the website easy to use. In December, I found the prices reasonable as I booked very late after the death of my sister just before Christmas. Inflight snacks were tasty and different and my beverage was served in a glass. My family flew to Ottawa in early August. Security was very sensitive and polite as we traveled with an urn. Online booking was easy and I used both one way options and return with price very reasonable. Flights were smooth. Seat was comfortable. Adequate space as bag with urns easily fit under seat close by. Nice option to cabin check larger bag. Lounge in Toronto and Ottawa is very comfortable with free coffee, cookies and Internet. I wish Porter flew into more cities. I appreciated the service given by Porter.

They cancelled our flight 1/2 an hour before it was due to take off and made us wait over 5 hours for the next flight. They wait listed us on the next available but those who made it on that flight were the ones who paid more for their tickets. They penalised us fir not booking early! Their customer service was terrible. This is an airline I will never fly with again.

Never again! Small airline, waits for all connecting passengers when planes from elsewhere get delayed as if this was a bus or something. I've been late coming in and late 5 hours on my flight back. If this is what happens in summer, what's happening in winter? Unless you want to spend 5 hours in a nice lounge instead of flying you are better of flying from Pearson.

I have usually been a big supporter of Porter but the last 24 hours have challenged my loyalty to the airline. My flight from Newark was cancelled bad weather happens nothing you can do about it. However the response to the situation is what infuriated me. After not making the stand-by list for the last flight out I asked for assistance in booking a hotel as I imagined they would have dealt with this situation previously. Not only were the staff unhelpful they were downright rude. Given the situation and not wanting to hunt down hotel rooms to sleep for only 6 hours I decided to bunk it in the Newark airport. In the morning while getting my ticket for the morning plane the service desk tried to charge me for another $26 bag fee even though I pre-paid from Toronto. After determining that I indeed had pre-paid the fee she put the bag through. After finally arriving to Toronto at 9.30am we were treated to a 45 minute delay with the baggage carousel. For 30 minutes my fellow passengers and I looked at each other dumbfounded as our luggage was at the top of the conveyor belt. Again these things happen but you would think an announcement of the maintenance issue would be a good idea by Porter. Eventually a woman with a walkie talkie was working with the maintenance team to get things going. While it would have been nice of her to provide an update to the customers about what was going on I am not going to moan after a certain point realizing the issue was going to take awhile she took off her high heels climbed the carousel and started to pass the luggage that had made it to the top of the conveyor belt. I live in Toronto and the company I work for is in New Jersey. I make frequent flights to the area and Porter used to be my default choice no questions asked. After this shameful debacle that is no longer the case. Get it together Porter!

Terrible I arrived at Toronto Island (Billy Bishop) at 7am after looking online to find the flight to Halifax delayed hoping to move it to the flight just after. Everything went fine then when boarding time came and went the excesses from Porter started first they had told us someone vomited on a seat on the planes approach and needed cleaning (the plane had been on the ground all night and should been cleaned) then they informed us the plane needed to be de-iced then they inform us that there is no first officer for the flight because he was at another airport. Lying to us the entire time I have no idea how people travel with Porter for business they are never on time and their staff is hit and miss by what I saw today also under staffed. Should also note that Air Canada sent three planes out while we waited. Porter is now a last resort sad because they used to be much better.

Flew from Toronto to Newark over the Christmas Holidays. Booked the flight less than 2 weeks out for the cheapest price available at the time. Both flights took off on time with absolutely no hassle. I love the lounge at Billy Bishop Airport (Toronto) where you get complimentary (unlimited) cookies Starbucks coffee Tazo Tea water pop almonds newspapers and Wi-Fi. I was pleasantly surprised to see that at Newark Liberty Porter had a small corner reserved for their passengers with similar (yet slightly less impressive) complimentary amenities. Only downside was the outbound flight was seated next to the noisy engine.